David Chipperfield Architects’ refurbishment of Venice’s 16th-century Procuratie Vecchie in St Mark’s Square has been completed after five years’ work.
The aim was to renovate and extend the building to add a publicly accessible area for the first time in its history.
The new layout has offices for Italian insurance company Generali, which commissioned the work, and also for its social organisation, the Human Safety Net. Among the notable changes are extra staircases, a renewed central entrance and access to raised courtyards.
The existing structure was modified and integrated with the additions, creating what David Chipperfield Architects describes as a more coherent whole.
The Procuratie Vecchie is located along the north side of St Mark’s Square and was originally designed by Bartolomeo Bon and later by Jacopo Sansovino. It was the first exemplar of the classical style, which was later adopted by the other buildings on the palazzo.
